Conflict Between Free Consciousness And Existence Situation

William Faulkner(1897-1962) is one of the most influential American writers in the 20th century.His works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha saga,of which The Sound and the Fury (1929),As I Lay Dying(1930),Light in August(1932),Sanctuary(1931) and Absalom,Absalom! (1936) are masterpieces.This thesis employs the theory of existentialism to study the situations of human beings in the Deep South of America.By drawing on the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre's interpretation on freedom and situation,freedom and existence,and relative freedom and absolute freedom,the author argues that "No Exit" is the underlined theme of the five works, and all the leading characters are in the state of conflict between free consciousness and existence situation.Focused on the theme of "No Exit",the thesis deeply analyses the diversified human situations in the works.Firstly,since the traditional ethics and customs were destroyed in capitalist society,the Southerners were put into a sad state of perplexity for lack of belief. Secondly,the racial discrimination is so bad in the Deep South of America that the black people and the mixed-blood were difficult in seeking for their identity.Thirdly,the women were seriously oppressed and restricted in the patriarchal society,so they were struggling for their own will by radically bsing chastity and bearing false witness.Lastly,all the people who had contended for their fates had a tragic ending and they were finally desperate at the absurd reality.The theme of "No Exit" is actually rooted in Faulkner's understanding of fiction,whose intention is to discuss the morality of human beings through exposing the various human situations in the Deep South,and in order to be better able to grasp the spiritual state of people in the situation of "No Exit",some modernist strategies such as the stream of consciousness,free space-time narrative have been absorbed inhis fiction.It is the cultural heritage that Faulkner left for posterity.